22- At The Gates Of The Ancient East
"I would like to welcome you all to the magnificent site of Persepolis, which we will discover together today. My name is Inaya, I will be your companion on this journey through time, which I hope will be as exciting for you as it is for me."
The young woman shook her head gently before rolling her eyes, unable to help herself. Her attitude did not fail to intrigue the young man standing next to her, who intercepted her exasperated look despite the sunglasses she was wearing. He discreetly moved closer and leaned slightly towards her.
"Stop that, Croft."
Lara sighed loudly and looked away.
"Tell me why we're here again?"
She glanced around at the archaeological site they were about to enter, and tried to push away the strange feeling of anxiety that twinged her heart in this very moment. A weird feeling that kept clinging to her and which she could not get rid of since their arrival here.
Since leaving Greece, they seemed to be moving into the unknown, completely groping around, not knowing where what they had discovered in the paintings would lead them. The more she thought about it, the less she knew what to expect or what to look for, and this exasperated her to no end. And the more she thought about it, the more she found it increasingly difficult to make sense of it all and to understand where this would lead them.
It's a complete nonsense
Quite quickly she felt being watched. When she turned her head, her gaze fell on a retired couple, British it seemed, standing not far from them had turned to her with their brows furrowed, obviously intrigued. The Englishwoman gave them an exaggerated smile, which disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. The two older and outraged people looked at her almost in disgust and turned their backs on her, stammering a few incomprehensible words. Kurtis, who was looking suspiciously at the rest of the group, could not hold back an amused smile.
Even better than a watchdog
She glared at him, and the young man responded with an even bigger smile. They followed the movement of group of tourists they had infiltrated which slowly set off, as they followed the young Iranian guide who was accompanying them. Lara walked in silence with the deep feeling of being a sheep caught in a both tight and massive flock, stuck with people who would have forgotten absolutely everything of their visit by the end of the day. Patience was definitely not her thing, especially in those kind of situations. Once again, she realized she was sick and tired of all those so common and so boring… things. And she was looking forward to finally being free to roam the site as she pleased.
They walked towards the entrance of the ancient city, which was delimited by a big arch made of carved stone, and guarded by two huge winged lions.
"So here are the remains of Parsa's main gates, which, as you can see, are carefully guarded by these two huge lions."
The two adventurers heard murmurs of admiration all around them as they entered the city and discovered its magnificent remains. Lara couldn't help but roll her eyes once more in front of such disbelief and naivety. Kurtis nudged her gently. She felt his shoulder brushing hers.
"I remind you this was your idea in the first place," the young man whispered in her ear.
"Well, next time remind me not to get involved in such a messy plan. It's a real waste of time."
"We said we'd keep a low profile at first. This is the smartest thing I can think of right now. And anyway, you never listen to me, so there was no point in me protesting or suggesting another plan."
"That's what I call bad faith, Trent," Lara responded with defiance.
"And you're really impossible when you put your mind to it."
The group walked away. They followed the guide to a wide alley made up of tall columns with elegant designs. They stopped in front of a huge esplanade, whose lower levels were covered with finely chiselled sculptures, quite surprisingly delicate for a city and a people known for their military power. The two adventurers pretended to listen to the guide's explanations, but remained away from the group. They glanced around, trying to observe the smallest details. But they soon realized the approach they had chosen was kind of tricky: the historic site was crowded and full of tourists scattered in all directions. Policemen were posted everywhere and were standing guard and watching the surroundings. There was no way they could sneak away. The reconnaissance mission would be complicated.
"The city of Persepolis, also known as the City of the Persians in Greek, is said to have been founded in 519 BC by Darius I, the great king of the Persian Empire..."
"It was founded in 518 BC actually," Lara grumbled, exasperated by the young guide's lack of knowledge.
Kurtis glared at her.
"I think it's not really time to draw attention on us," he muttered.
She turned her gaze on the young man.
"It's not my fault she's talking nonsense!"
The British couple walking in front of them turned around again, as did several other people. The husband of the couple, half camouflaged under a large light-coloured hat, looked shocked and clearly seemed to take offense. Although he could not see it directly, Lara gave him a murderous look.
"You're right, the veracity of the information doesn't matter after all, as you're not going to remember anything of your visit anyway, the sole purpose of which is, I suppose, to take a few photos that will show you were there for your rich friends who have gone off on luxury safaris to slaughter some endangered species of animals, or who have gone to the other side of the world to pollute a tropical sea with their private yacht, the price of which alone could pay for ten years for the food of an entire village of Africans who don't even have access to running water," she told him scathingly.
The man took a step backward, his eyes now wide open.
"How dare you...?"
"Excuse her, she's not really in her right mind today," Kurtis apologised, before grabbing the adventuress by the arm and forcing her to calm down.
"All those Americans really have no manners at all," the man's wife hissed, looking the two adventurers up and down.
Before Lara had time to retaliate, the mercenary pulled her away from the group. He was furious too. He sought the young woman's gaze, which was clearly avoiding his.
"What's the matter with you?"
"Nothing."
She felt the weight of the mercenary's gaze on her, which was scanning her insistently. But, seeing that she was ignoring him completely, and preferring to avoid another conflict, the young man preferred to look away and ignore her attitude too. Without insisting further, Kurtis released his grip on her, and they refocused on the tour. They discreetly joined the group that had wandered off a little further, towards a new series of monumental columns. They saw the guide's gaze rest on them for a brief second before she resumed her explanations.
"...This is one of the oldest and largest archaeological sites in the world. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978..."
Next to him, Kurtis felt Lara suddenly getting upset and agitated, but wasn't quick enough to stop her this time.
"For God's Sake, it was in 1979!", said the Englishwoman in a loud voice.
Everyone suddenly fell silent around them, and the whole group turned towards the two adventurers. The guide looked at Lara, a little confused and interrupted in her speech.
"I beg your pardon?", she asked hesitantly.
"The site of Persepolis and its ruins were officially declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979," Lara replied sharply. "And the city was founded in 518 BC, by the way."
There was a general silence in the group, during which all eyes remained focused on them. The Iranian guide watched them both carefully.
"Okay, I'm sorry if the date I gave was wrong. Where did you get that information?"
"I'm an archaeologist, it's my job to know dates actually," Lara answered with a slight arrogance.
"Alright," the young woman simply replied, a little stunned by such aplomb.
She obviously didn't know what to say to the aventuress, and merely shrugged a shoulder. Murmurs spread through the group as unease set in. Lara felt Kurtis stirring beside her.
"If you don't mind, we'll continue our tour, but please feel free to share your thoughts if you feel the need. I am always happy to talk with the people I accompany."
Obviously not at ease, the guide slowly resumed her visit, followed by the group of tourists who slowly turned away from the two adventurers. Lara stood still for a moment, arms crossed tightly against her chest. She felt a movement beside her.
"You done?"
She didn't have to turn her head to feel Kurtis' insistent gaze on her.
"We're wasting our time."
"Again, we don't really have any other choice."
"This is silly. I didn't come here to get a history lesson. We have to get straight to the point."
"For fuck sake Croft, why are you so upset about everything today?"
The young woman kept looking away trying once again to avoid his destabilizing gaze. She had not stopped grumbling and disagreeing and arguing about every single possible thing since their arrival in Iran. Even though the sky was gradually getting brighter above them, and even though they had allowed themselves a few jokes to lighten the atmosphere and reduce the tension between them lately, their relationship was still fragile and uncertain. He took a lot upon himself, but Lara drove him completely crazy when she behaved like that. And she definitely knew it. The adventuress was sometimes so stubborn that she became irritable, and above all, completely untamable. No one could reason with her anymore in those kinds of situation.
Come on. What's bothering you?
The young man remained remarkably calm in front of her. He observed the rebellious strands of hair floating in the wind around her face, and he realized with bitterness that he knew her only too well, well enough to know something was wrong.
I don't know. I wouldn't tell you exactly. I just… I feel like something's wrong with this place
Truth be told, she didn't even know herself why she felt so irritated and annoyed by this visit. Apart from the waste of time it represented, and although they were not pressed for time, a strange feeling had not left her since she had set foot here. A strong feeling of déjà vu she could not explain, as if she already knew the landscapes around and those huge plains of sand.
"Keep yourself together, Croft. And stay concentrated. You said yourself that ruins speak louder than books. We found some ruins. And now we're going to find something, here. Whatever it is. There's got to be something here somewhere. I don't intend to leave empty-handed either. But for that, we have to be patient and stay discreet. And remember not everyone can be on your level when it comes to general knowledge."
Lara's big eyes finally met the young man's. She pouted, touched in some kind of way by his words. A stream of warm air swept over them and made the rocks around whistle just like it was a warning. An almost imperceptible smile formed on her lips.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
After a moment of silence, and sensing that she had finally calmed down, Kurtis nodded slowly and reached for a cigarette to light it. But no sooner had he placed it between his lips and taken a drag than Lara snatched it and threw it to the ground, crushing it with the toe of her boot.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you that you shouldn't smoke on an archaeological site?"
The young woman turned her back on him and stomped off to join the rest of the group. Kurtis saw the couple of old British aristocrats turn towards them and watch them carefully, and with more contempt than ever. He took a deep breath to regain his composure and shook his head sharply, before bending down to pick up the fallen cigarette.
"Can't wait for all this to be over indeed," he muttered as he straightened up and walked back to the rest of the group.
—
The next few hours seemed really endless and awfully long, but the adventuress did her best not to get carried away by her frustration or make any inappropriate comments about their organised visit. She remained at a safe distance from the rest of the group, always closely watched by the mercenary who kept a constant and inquisitive eye on her.
The sun was getting hotter and hotter, and heavier and heavier above their heads. The sun was high in the clear deep blue sky, it was extremely hot that day. It was also very windy, the desert air was dry and burned the skin, but despite those difficult conditions, the site was still crowded. The guide made them stop at several key places of the ancient imperial city, but the two adventurers found it difficult to move away from the group for more than a few seconds to take a closer look at some columns, some steles or statues, or even some symbols engraved in the stone in some places, also closely watched by the British couple who kept on throwing suspicious glances at them.
A little later in the afternoon, they all followed a path that led them outside the city walls, and they moved away towards the southern part of the ancient city, somewhere near a mountain range and cliffs in the middle of the desert land. Persepolis had been built at the foot of rocks that seemed to appear out of nowhere in the middle of the arid desert. The rock still bore the traces of human troglodyte constructions, undoubtedly shelters in which to take refuge in case of an enemy attack. The building facades carved into the rock reminded Lara of some Egyptian constructions or the one in Petra in Jordan, but it especially reminded her of the remains of the first civilisations they had seen in Cappadocia, before finding the Nephilim cradle. They exchanged a glance with Kurtis: the young man obviously had the same feeling.
The Iranian guide gathered them all at the foot of the great cliff, around an isolated stone building, which stood strangely alone in the middle of nowhere, and yet obviously linked to the ancient city.
"We are about 70 miles from the city of Shiraz, in a region, as you may have noticed, rather deserted and somewhat mountainous, the plain of Marvdasht, a place which would have been used on several occasions as a refuge against enemy attacks. Some legends even say that Darius I chose to establish his imperial city here, at the foot of this rocky massif, thinking that it was a sacred land, which had been the scene of war between ancient gods..."
Lara listened absentmindedly to the guide's comments, focused on something else. She followed Kurtis, who had moved a few steps away, hands in his pockets.
They were standing in front of a hole, which formed a large rectangular pool, like a kind of stone pit. On one side, a series of steps led down inside it. The Englishwoman leaned forward slightly. The inside of the walls were covered with different types of decorations and patterns, much like the archway they had seen earlier. In the very centre of the pool were four statues of lion-bodied, eagle-headed monsters. She was struck by their magnificent and hypnotic turquoise, green and slightly golden colour, which gave them a noble and imposing appearance. They were entirely covered with mosaic, which shone in the hot sun. The four animals, sitting on their hind legs, were carved to face whoever approached, as if they were protecting something.
Lara frowned slightly. All around them, at regular intervals, the ground bore the traces of ancient walls and pillars that must have once stood there, but were now completely gone, erased by time. But she had already seen this kind of structures, in particular in Egypt, where the ancient temples were provided with large basins fed directly by groundwater. Same dimensions, same structure, same configuration, and the same stone steps the sacred priests could use to access the pool directly. She deduced that this place could have been a sacred sanctuary too, which she imagined to be surrounded by lush gardens, whose immense green plants and brightly coloured trees contrasted sharply with the rest of the region's barren, desolate landscape.
Yet the layout and arrangement of the whole seemed strange to her. And on closer inspection, the statues in the centre seemed to outline something, perhaps a slab. But sand and earth had covered part of the ground there. Lara was suddenly convinced that something was wrong here, as if the ruins they were looking at were not real, as if something was missing. But she couldn't work out what. For that, she would have to search further…
The young woman suddenly felt herself being watched, and turned her head. She found out that Kurtis was standing right next to her, and met his inquisitive gaze. He was watching her intently, eyebrows furrowed. She held his gaze emphatically as if to challenge the sanctimonious expression on his face.
Don'even think about it
"What are you talking about?", the young woman protested.
She looked seriously offended.
I know exactly what you're thinking about, Croft. And you're thinking about it so hard it's like you're screaming in my ears
Lara stayed still in front of him and did not move nor protest, but when realizing he would not give in, she rolled her eyes and turned away in annoyance.
"If we can't even think in peace now..."
Deeply frustrated, she took a few steps away, and her gaze fell once more on the stone pool and the statues. But the more she looked at the griffins, the more something seemed to stir inside the adventuress, as if something had awakened deep inside her. A strange sensation ran through her from head to toe, she felt her heart clench in her chest without being able to explain why.
The mercenary sensed that she had suddenly become nervous, and gave her a curious look.
"Weird feeling again?"
She shook her head slowly, unable to take her eyes off the four statues that stood a little lower down.
"I don't know. maybe. Or maybe my instincts are telling me we are not far from our goal."
"Are you talking about the infallible radar that almost got you impaled several times, or the one that tells you to stay put during the tour?"
The young woman felt anger bubble up inside her at the ironic smile the mercenary gave her, but she preferred to ignore his remark. Without another word, she slowly turned around, not without taking one last look at the griffin statues that intrigued her so much.
The two adventurers resumed their visit with the group at a leisurely pace, once again taking advantage of the guide's lack of attention to make a few quick observations on some of the ruins. As the afternoon drew to a close and the tour came to an end, the group was escorted back to the archaeological site. They stopped one last time at the foot of a huge structure that formed an arch over their heads.
"We are now at the foot of the western entrance to the ancient city of Parsa. As I explained to you during this visit, the ancient city was protected by walls, and there were four entrances in all, four stone gates to Persepolis. Unfortunately, only two of them remain today, including this one, although it is partially destroyed..."
Lara raised her head and took a quick look at the huge structure standing over them and several metres high. There were two huge winged lions, one on each side of the old door, and a large arch in which various motifs and details of the time had been carved. One detail in particular caught her eye: a sort of hollow in the stone, placed exactly in the centre of the arch. After a glance around, the young woman discreetly approached the statues.
As if he had suddenly sensed her, Kurtis, who had his back to her until now, suddenly turned around and saw the Englishwoman coming dangerously close to the structure. But before he could stop her, the young woman had already stepped over the security cordon and was clinging to the columns. The Iranian guide stopped talking abruptly and rushed towards her.
"What are you doing? Access is forbidden, madam! Stop!"
"Lara!", Kurtis called, but the young woman was already climbing one of the statues.
Not caring about what was going on around her or the protests against her, Lara climbed one of the lions, and pulled herself up onto the stone arch. As the structure was not very high, it did not take her long to reach the top. When she stood up and turned around, she saw a small group of men running towards her in the distance: policemen.
I had forgotten about that..., she told herself inwardly.
It's not like I warned you!, she heard in reply.
She met the mercenary's angry gaze a little lower down, before he was taken to task by one of the Iranian guards. Two other men were coming at her.
She had only seconds to act. She heard the policemen shouting at her to get down, but ignored them. She crouched down and leaned over the void to get a closer look at the carvings on the stone. Her fingers ran along the figures and other war scenes that were depicted there, before stopping on the round, hollowed-out relief she had noticed. There was a round spot there, perhaps as large as a hand. She wasn't sure, but the adventuress felt her pulse quicken as she thought she might have found something.
The men waiting for her below became more threatening and continued to yell at her. She wished she could stall, but she knew she couldn't resist them forever without getting into serious trouble. She leaned over a little more, but could not see the stone clearly from where she was. She wished she could see the details of the arch more closely, perhaps there were clues there too. Her hand groped the stone, following some of the relief she could feel under her fingers.
Then there was a bang, and something brushed very close to her hand with a shrill whistle. People screamed and ran off, followed closely by the guide. The adventuress hurriedly stood up and raised her hands high. She was astonished to discover that the policemen were holding her at gunpoint.
"I'm sorry, I'm coming down," she finally said in approximative Arabic.
Reluctantly, and still at gunpoint, she carefully stepped down from the building. No sooner had she set foot on the ground than the two men rushed at her and tackled her to the ground to handcuff her. She let them do it without flinching. They each grabbed her by the arm and took her with them, under the stunned gaze but just as satisfied gaze of the other tourists and the British couple, who had taken refuge a little further on.
Well done, Croft
She met the furious gaze of Kurtis, who was obviously trying to negotiate with the third policeman. As they walked away, both under the close escort of the policemen, Lara could not help but glance back at the arch and its sacred statues.
—
SOME HOURS LATER
When the young woman emerged from the building and finally found herself in the open air, she found the mercenary waiting for her, sitting on the steps of the small police station and smoking a cigarette. He turned and saw her, and slowly got to his feet, blowing out the cigarette smoke he had just inhaled. Lara came down to meet him with a nonchalant gait. She met his cold, reproving gaze, but interrupted him before the mercenary could lecture her for the umpteenth time.
"They've called the embassy, everything has been taken care of. Everything's fine. All I got is a fine. They weren't very kind, but I guess they have their orders."
Kurtis answered nothing and just glared at her.
"What?", the young woman asked as he didn't seem to react at all.
Nothing. I just took a second to imagine what it'd be like if all the English tourists behaved just like you
The young woman's piercing eyes watched him for some more seconds, and held his gaze with a cheeky look, as if to challenge him. Then the mercenary nodded to her and they set off.
The city of Shiraz was the closest to the site of Persepolis, and it was the only one in which they had been able to find a hotel to stay for the few days they would be there, while they did their research. The sun had just set, the city was gradually illuminated by its night lights. The hot and stifling air of the day had given way to the cold and fresh air of the early evening. They walked up the main street of the small town, escaping the shoppers who accosted them to sell them some tasteless handmade trinkets, which they politely refused with a wave of the hand. They stopped at a kiosk to buy something to eat, before making their way back to their hotel. They took an adjacent street, and walked down the small, poorly lit alley that would lead them to their hotel. Kurtis stopped in the doorway to light a cigarette and taunted Lara with a mischievous look. She looked down at him from the step she was standing on, arms crossed over her chest. This time she couldn't stop him from smoking. And anyway, he wouldn't let her, he needed a good smoke to relax.
"Do you want the good news?", Lara told him as she observed him insistingly with her big brown eyes.
Kurtis rolled his eyes and sighed loudly, unable to contain himself.
"'m not sure I wanna know, actually," he muttered. "Dontcha think you've done enough for today?"
Lara pouted. The American blew out the smoke, then after a few seconds, reluctantly nodded, encouraging her to get to the end of her reasoning.
"I may have found something."
She faced the mercenary's impassive face, and she was disappointed to see that the young man did not react more than that to her announcement.
"You mean you made all this fuss over something you're not even sure of?"
She raised her arms in exasperation.
"I need to take a closer look. And I need more time to find what I want to find."
"And what did you find?"
"I don't know, I mean we'll have to make further research as I couldn't-"
"Yes, because that's basically the idea of a protected archaeological site, Croft. You just can't do whatever you want whenever you want just 'cause you've decided so."
"I'm not talking about that. I'm just saying I needed more time to do what I had to do. I couldn't confirm my theories," Lara answered despite the astonished look Kurtis gave to her in this very moment.
"Which were…?"
"There was something on the arch."
"And that's it?"
Lara shook her head in annoyance.
"It's hard to explain, but I have the feeling what we saw today is not what we are supposed to see. It's as if it's just a facade, a mirage. I think these ruins hide much more than we think."
They heard noise and voices further down the alley. A group of young men passed them by, but not without giving the Englishwoman several insistent looks. He blew out the smoke he had just inhaled, and glared at one of the young men who glanced at the adventuress in a quite inappropriate way. The young man, caught in the act, lowered his head when his gaze crossed the mercenary's and walked on without a word. Kurtis watched the group go until they had completely disappeared at the other end of the street.
He then refocused on his conversation with the adventuress, and shook his head slightly. He was dreading what was to come. He knew the adventuress all too well, and suddenly understood what she had in mind. His eyes rounded slightly and he shook his head a little more vigorously in denial, as if that would stop the young woman from embarking on the plan she obviously had in mind.
"We're taking serious risks, Croft. After what happened today..."
"Weren't you the one who said you weren't planning to leave this place empty-handed?"
As an answer, the young man simply stared straight into her eyes, then looked away. He seemed to be thinking. And he suddenly understood all this eagerness, this nervousness, this annoyance, her irritability. She was a storm, just like him. She just wanted to draw a definitive line under the whole thing, and get over it. Just like him. They were both simply tired of running in circles again and again, and tired of moving forward into the unknown. They needed something concrete, they needed to move forward and try to find something.
"What d'you suggest?", Kurtis asked, taking another drag on his cigarette.
She tried to hide the satisfied smile that was slowly appearing on her face, which the American immediately noticed, and which did not fail to annoy him, even though he did not let on.
"I'll go get the stuff and equipment ready, I'll let you call for the car rental."
Before he could protest, Lara had already turned her back on him and disappeared into the hotel.